Don’t throw in the towel

There is tremendous power in the celebration of Advent because it helps us claim every promise of God for our lives, families, businesses, and communities. Pandemics and adversities have a strange, but common, effect on most people: we tend to give up and lose hope. There is a popular saying many Americans use in these moments: “I feel like throwing in the towel.”

Have you ever felt like throwing in the towel? I have on many occasions. 

The Advent story of Zechariah and Elizabeth best illustrates this old boxing metaphor. Like beaten fighters who had been pummeled to a bloody mess, they had given up on the hope of a child. This Bible text demonstrates their pain and loss of hope: “In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.” (Luke 1:5-7, NIV)

Can you imagine Zechariah’s shock when an angel surprised him while he was doing his priestly duties? “Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.’” (Luke 1:11-13, NIV) It’s no wonder he’d given up. He was an old man, and he’d performed his religious duties a thousand times with no supernatural results. Just a truckload of unanswered prayers, dreams, and visions. 

Can you relate to his despair, friend? 

There is another little mindset that made life pretty discouraging for Zechariah: being childless had a horrible stigma attached to it. Most of their Jewish friends looked at a childless couple as forgotten by God or even cursed by Him. Yikes! Can you imagine living in that environment?

You may be facing almost insurmountable odds, but God is about to advent in your life. He’ll arrive in seen and unseen ways to help, heal, and restore your hopes and dreams. It probably won’t look like what you had planned or like everyone thinks it should. But God will be God to you if you’ll simply keep serving Him, trusting Him, and loving others. 

Don’t throw in the towel—look up! Your answer is coming.